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December 24, 2013; vol. 110no. 52

Cover image

Cover image: Pictured is a herd of cattle (Bos indicus) being watered at the Ghibe River in southwestern Ethiopia. Cattle are a mainstay of smallholder food production throughout Africa, where livestock yields remain insufficient to meet rising demand. In the Special Feature on Livestock and Global Change appearing in this issue, findings suggest that exploiting the diversity of today's global livestock production systems—from mixed crop-livestock smallholdings to rural dairy hubs to pastoral production to industrial poultry, at both small and large scales—is critical to the sustainability of global food systems. See the Introduction to the Special Feature on Livestock and Global Change by Mario Herrero and Philip K. Thornton on pages 20878–20881. Image courtesy of International Livestock Research Institute/Stevie Mann.